I know I might seem a bit slow asking this, plus it's possibly been asked before, but it occured to me: Why do regional jets have winglets? Based on what I have read, winglets provide no significant benefit over short distances like the ones these planes operate. Yet CRJs and ERJ-145XRs have them. Can someone enlighten me here? Thanks in advance.

I think it is a combination of factors:
- On RJ terminals, space tends to be at a premium, and the installation of winglets allows a decrease in wingspan.
- Some of the RJ routes are in fact pretty long, running into several hours. The ERJ-145XR is a long range version, which would explain the addition of winglets.

"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots."

Quoting UltimateDelta (Thread starter):Why do regional jets have winglets? Based on what I have read, winglets provide no significant benefit over short distances like the ones these planes operate

Good question ad the best answer is probably "fashion", it looks modern(the exact words used by KL for example).
I am told that a 73NG needs at least a 2.5 hour cruise at a minimum altitude of 35.000ft to just play even with the extra fuel burned during take off and climb due to the weight increase.
The smaller the aircraft the bigger the weight impact will be and thus the longer it needs to fly in order to make it profitable.
But it seems that this hype is coming to an end like any other hype in the past.
The latest a/c have only tiny wing lets(a380) or a blended design(787).

Quoting Aviopic (Reply 4):I am told that a 73NG needs at least a 2.5 hour cruise at a minimum altitude of 35.000ft to just play even with the extra fuel burned during take off and climb due to the weight increase.

I dont know where you got this from but this is no where near what I heard. What's your source?

Frankly, if that were the case WN would not mount them at all. There are very few WN flights with a cruise time much over 3 hours. I can think of several, but the vast majority are shorter than that. Which means that if they were losing money each time they took off with those things, plus the initial outlay, they never would have done it. And yet they are still in the process of adding them to their fleet, if they arent already all the way there with their targets.

For some, the sky is the limit. For us, it is only the beginning... -- Jack Hunt

It's important to remember that there are more benefits to winglets than just fuel burn at cruise. Well-designed winglets allow for reduced takeoff thrust, which decreases fuel burn and engine wear. Higher initial cruise altitudes can be utilized. Climb gradients can be greater, and takeoff weight can be increased.

In short, you needn't operate solely long-haul flights for the benefits of winglets to justify their cost.

Quoting 2H4 (Reply 10):It's important to remember that there are more benefits to winglets than just fuel burn at cruise. Well-designed winglets allow for reduced takeoff thrust, which decreases fuel burn and engine wear. Higher initial cruise altitudes can be utilized. Climb gradients can be greater, and takeoff weight can be increased.

The can also act as noise reduction devices. The 727 winglet mod, for example, allows faster climb, meaning the noise is removed from the ground faster.

"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots."

May just be my imagination, but ground collisions seem more frequent involving winglet-equipped aircraft. One recent example a couple of days ago at YYZ from the Transport Canada daily incident website.

Westjet flight WJA645, a Boeing 737-7CT aircraft, was being pushed back from Toronto Terminal 3 gate C25 when the left hand winglet contacted the right hand winglet of Westjet flight WJA208, a Boeing 737-7CT aircraft, being marshalled into the adjacent gate C24. At the time of the incident, each gate was manned by a four person ground crew which included a lead hand, two wing walkers and fourth person for chocking the aircraft and/or disconnecting the tow tractor. All personnel were in their assigned positions when the collision occurred. There were no injuries. The aircraft were removed from service so both winglets could be replaced.

More aircraft today have winglets. Therefore more collisions will involve winglets.

Another thing to consider is that many new aircraft that are equipped with winglets have designs optimized for the application in the first place so no additional support may be needed compared to a retrofitted design.

Quoting UltimateDelta (Thread starter):Based on what I have read, winglets provide no significant benefit over short distances like the ones these planes operate.

They always provide some benefit, and they always have some cost. Where those trades break even depends (strongly) on how the winglet was designed, and when it was designed compared to the airplane.

Quoting Pilotpip (Reply 13):
Another thing to consider is that many new aircraft that are equipped with winglets have designs optimized for the application in the first place so no additional support may be needed compared to a retrofitted design.

This is absolutely key. A wing designed from the outset to have a winglet (i.e. a wing with a span restriction) can fly better than a wing of the same span and loading designed without a winglet. This is quite different than retrofitting, where you're taking a wing designed to work without a winglet and grafting a winglet on to it. In that case, you shift the loading around and you pay a bigger penalty in wing re-inforcement.

Quoting UltimateDelta (Thread starter):ased on what I have read, winglets provide no significant benefit over short distances like the ones these planes operate.

As mentioned, they provide the same benefits to all aircraft. Not to mention that these regional jets don't only do short flights. Air Canada Jazz flies their CRJ's to Houston and other destinations abroad at times.

Quoting Aviopic (Reply 4):Good question ad the best answer is probably "fashion", it looks modern(the exact words used by KL for example).

That is a very good point at well. The winglets just make any plane look cleaner, sharper, and faster.

Quoting Aviopic (Reply 4):I am told that a 73NG needs at least a 2.5 hour cruise at a minimum altitude of 35.000ft to just play even with the extra fuel burned during take off and climb due to the weight increase.

Many 73NGs cruise at FL415 even if the cruise there only lasts for 5 minutes. This more than saves the fuel needed to lift the winglets off the ground. Prime example is WestJet flights from here in YQQ to YYC, which is as short as one hour and three minute flight depending on the wind. Many WN flights in the US which are very short would do the same.

Quoting ROSWELL41 (Reply 17):The CRJ wing is not really designed for short field takeoffs.

That's the truth! A fully laden CRJ-200 with a flex thrust take-off will use as much runway as a fully laden 747. Or so it seems.

Anyway, I have read somewhere that there is a 7% penalty on the CRJ if there are no winglets. That said, I doubt they can be removed. On some airplanes they can be, but I have never seen a CRJ without them.

Quoting Goldenshield (Reply 20):No aircraft is going to perform well when it's at or near it's certified MTOW. Of course, the CRJ is exceptionally slow off the ground at or near MTOW due to its lack of slats.

It also has high approach and landing speeds as well as high take-off speeds because of this. All the controllers think that because it's a small airplane it flies slow and uses short runways. But our approach speed at MLW is 146KIAS.

I have a couple of thousand hours of time in the front window seat of the CRJ. The -200 series is definetely not a short field aircraft. The wing is definetely designed to go high and fast. I recall having a B767 Captain in the jumpseat one day and he was astounded at how fast our approach speeds were. They were much higher than his 767 he said.

Winglets are not all optimized for cruise, as some posts here imply. A winglet optimized for high lift coeficient flight phases (takeoff, climb) makes a lot of sense for a plane that flies short sectors and has a hard restriction on wingspan.